Above the Sea of Clouds

As dragons who soar through heaven and earth, being amazed by the scenery high above the skies… did that make her seem a little too easily startled?

On the third day after Daisy and Viola returned to their cave together, the two of them finally set off on their journey.

Though “set off” wasn’t exactly the right phrase.

At that moment, Daisy was being held in Viola’s arms as the dragon woman maintained a humanoid form, a pair of small dragon wings with a three-meter wingspan spread behind her as she soared through cloud layers at an unknown altitude.

Rather than embarking on a journey, they had quite literally flown into one.

It was impossible to even say whether the weather was clear or cloudy.

Below them stretched an endless sea of clouds covering the earth.

Above them hung the bright and blazing sun.

At this extreme altitude above the clouds, there was no distinction between sunny or overcast.

Not a single trace of gloom could obscure the sunlight.

Daisy and Viola had departed with remarkable efficiency that morning as well.

After breakfast, they rested briefly, then directly turned the trip into an aerial voyage like this.

Daisy herself had almost no luggage to pack.

All she carried were the slightly tattered clothes and boots Katie had altered for her, the large hat used to hide her dragon horns, and the Scorpion-Tailed Fox fur blanket Viola had given her.

As for Viola’s luggage, it consisted solely of little Daisy herself.

“Uuu…”

The roaring wind and rushing airflow battered against her face, yet it barely affected Daisy’s ability to admire the wondrous sight above the clouds.

When Viola had carried her flying back from Gran City before, they had never ascended to this height.

This magnificent scenery was completely new to her.

Still, because of a subtle sense of draconic pride in her heart, she held herself back and resisted letting out any overly astonished gasps.

“Daisy? Is the speed too fast?”

Behind her, Viola asked with slight concern while holding Daisy against her soft and supple embrace.

At the same time, she adjusted the strength and rhythm of her wingbeats, slowing their flight speed.

“No, I’m fine…”

Daisy immediately felt the fierce airflow hitting her face weaken considerably.

It wasn’t that she disliked the feeling of flying quickly just now.

She simply still had a few questions lingering in her heart.

“Viola, why are we flying so high all of a sudden? Are we going straight to that place called Hel… Hel… something?”

Today, Viola’s flight altitude was clearly unusual.

Even dragons normally wouldn’t bother climbing this high before flying onward somewhere else.

It almost felt as though she were deliberately avoiding something.

Or perhaps afraid of being followed.

Daisy herself didn’t think that deeply about it.

She was only worried that with Viola’s flight speed and ability, they might directly arrive at the destination Viola mentioned before today—that place called Hel-whatever.

And then, her long-awaited journey to explore the world would end up becoming nothing more than a one-day sightseeing trip above the clouds.

“Helvia.”

Behind her, Viola did not answer immediately.

Instead, she repeated the destination’s full name in a slightly colder tone.

“That is one of the territories our dragon race possesses on this continent.”

“It is also the place where I met you back when you were still human…”

“…”

As Daisy listened to Viola speak of that place, she could hear both nostalgia and faint sorrow hidden within her voice.

Her tiny heart filled with confusion, yet for a moment, she had no idea where to even begin asking questions.

“There’s no need to worry. We are not flying directly to Helvia like this.”

“This journey is far more complicated than that.”

Behind her, Viola seemed to notice Daisy’s small concerns and softened her tone slightly.

“The forest where we live, as well as the city you visited with that human a few days ago, both lie within the territory of the human kingdom called Mirandel.”

“To reach the dragon territory of Helvia at the edge of the continent, we must cross the borders of several human nations, including Mirandel.”

“And humans are cowardly creatures who fear invasions from demons of the Demon Realm.”

“They establish enormous detection barriers over borderlands and strategic locations.”

“If we simply fly across openly, it would be difficult not to trigger major unrest and provoke multiple human kingdoms into jointly hunting us down.”

“So that means…”

Daisy heard a trace of hope in Viola’s words.

Her heart once more filled with anticipation toward the colorful unknown journey ahead.

“To avoid unnecessary trouble, we should quietly blend into human society instead.”

“We’ll find a way to properly obtain travel permits and move through each country disguised as humans without exposing our identities.”

Behind her, Viola spoke as though trying to sound casual.

Then she suddenly beat her wings and began descending in altitude.

“So this journey is still going to be very long.”

“There’s no need to fly too far yet.”

“First, let’s head down and buy some travel supplies for you.”

“Buy supplies…? Does Viola even have money?”

“No.”

“Eh? Then how are we supposed to buy anything?”

“If we don’t have money, then we can just get some.”

“Eh?! D-Don’t tell me…”

At the same time, far away from the airspace where Daisy and Viola were flying, another group was still beneath the clouds.

Four mounted figures trailing faint glimmers through the sky were scanning the land below while searching aimlessly for something.

Yet by now, they had completely lost all clues to their target.

“Captain Becker! I already told you we should’ve attacked back then!”

Among the flying group, a heavily armored warrior riding a large broad-winged pegasus shouted impatiently toward Becker, the young leader of the dragon-slaying squad at the front.

He already seemed to have mostly given up on the pursuit.

“With the four elite dragon slayers of Mirandel together, who cares whether it was some legendary dragon or not?”

“We might’ve actually had a chance back then!”

“But now haven’t we completely lost them?!”

Earlier that morning, the four-member dragon-slaying squad had spent the entire night carefully monitoring the forest inhabited by Viola and Daisy.

They had been so cautious that they didn’t dare alert the enemy.

No, more accurately, they didn’t dare alarm the dragon.

Only after remotely detecting Viola’s magical signature rapidly ascending into the sky at dawn did the four cautiously mount their winged pegasi and begin tracking from afar while searching for the perfect opportunity to strike.

However, the pegasi’s flight speed and climbing ability were no match for Viola.

As a result, the four of them quickly lost sight of their target, leaving them stuck in this nearly hopeless situation halfway through the mission.

“Haha! Don’t be so discouraged, my dear vanguard!”

At the front of the group, Captain Becker laughed brightly while riding the wind atop his pegasus.

Turning back toward the armored warrior, he revealed a confident smile.

“We won’t lose them.”

“Because powerful aberrations like dragons can never truly coexist with this world.”

“As long as they leave their territory, they are bound to cause trouble somewhere.”

“All we need to do is continue following their general direction.”

“Quietly follow them.”

“Patiently follow them.”

“Follow them…”

“Follow them…”

“And very soon, we’ll easily find that dragon again.”

“And soon enough, we’ll also find our chance to slay it.”

By noon that same day, Daisy still wore the large hat Katie had given her to hide her dragon horns.

However, she had already changed into a brand-new, adorable, lightweight pale pink dress.

Now she sat inside the most luxurious restaurant in another bustling human town, staring blankly at the massive feast laid out before her.

The table overflowed with delicacies from mountain and sea, great cuts of meat and fish, and steaming gourmet dishes.

“Why are you still waiting, my Daisy?”

Across the table, Viola sat elegantly in her black dress.

Though her two black dragon horns had already vanished through shapeshifting, she still wore the same dark outfit as before.

A gentle smile rested upon her cold and beautiful face as she looked toward Daisy.

“Hurry and eat.”

“The food’s going to get cold.”

So this was how it worked…

Daisy helplessly recalled how Viola had obtained money earlier and realized she really had misunderstood before.

Previously, the historically impoverished dragon Viola had quietly led Daisy down near a human town.

Then she raised her hand and cast magic.

She gathered the invisible magical particles dispersed throughout the world’s magical ley lines and forcibly compressed them within her palm, creating highly pure magic crystals out of thin air.

Magical ley lines existed everywhere across the continent.

They were broadly divided into terrestrial ley lines flowing through the earth and celestial ley lines stretching through the sky.

Though invisible and intangible, they continuously released magical particles that nourished all living things and served as the fundamental power source for magic itself.

The magic stones humans used to store and release magic were mined and processed from magical mineral deposits naturally formed in places where these ley lines densely converged.

Magic crystal ore was widely used and extremely valuable in every human nation.

Large magic crystal mines were valuable enough to provoke wars between kingdoms over territory.

Yet human magical technology was still incapable of directly condensing magic crystals from the ley lines of heaven and earth like this.

In fact, even among dragons, only a handful could accomplish such a feat.

Afterward, Viola—still dressed in that strange black dress—hid her dragon horns through transformation magic and led Daisy, whose clothes looked slightly shabby, into the city amid the ill-intentioned gazes of passersby who looked at them like strange refugee women.

They headed directly toward a large magic ore purchasing shop.

Under the shocked gaze of the knowledgeable shop owner, Viola sold the high-purity crystal she had created earlier at a discounted price.

Then she swaggered away carrying an entire bag full of silver coins.

She used the money to buy little Daisy the most expensive luxury dress available.

Finally, amid the astonished stares and constant double takes from pedestrians who now viewed them in a completely different light, Viola led Daisy into the city’s most luxurious restaurant.

“Slurp slurp… The food here… munch munch… slurp slurp… is really delicious too… crunch crunch…”

Daisy devoured the gourmet dishes with nonstop enthusiasm.

The restaurant’s refined cuisine carried a completely different kind of flavor from what she was used to.

It was so delicious she couldn’t stop eating.

And at last, she finally understood why Viola never bothered collecting gold or treasure.

To Viola, wealth was simply far too easy to obtain.

“But I still like… slurp slurp… the food Viola makes… munch munch…”

“There’s no need to force yourself to flatter me.”

“I’m not a chef.”

Across the table, Viola suddenly extended a finger into a cup of steaming premium black tea.

With a faint sizzling sound, her fingertip absorbed the entire cup of tea.

Then she stood and extended the finger storing the tea toward Daisy.

“Did the food get too salty?”

“Here, drink some tea.”

“I wanna drink!”

Under the astonished gazes of the restaurant’s waiters and guests, Daisy stood up and leaned across the table, wrapping her lips around Viola’s pale slender fingertip.

She suckled noisily as she drank the still-warm black tea from within.

Over there, Viola glanced around at the strange looks from the surrounding diners.

She seemed to realize something was wrong.

Although she did not immediately pull her hand away, after Daisy finished drinking, Viola thoughtfully corrected her posture, sat back down properly, and spoke with complete seriousness.

“Listen carefully, Daisy.”

“Before we continue this journey, there’s actually another issue we should resolve first…”